


A Damsel in Distress

by orphan_account



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017), bughead - Fandom
Genre: AU, Bughead fluff, F/M, Fluff, One Shot, bughead - Freeform, bughead au, whitty banters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 16:48:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15223469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “I’m not sure if there’s a secret boyfriend, or friend that’s a bad influence, or some influence of drugs, but it needs to s -”“ - Hey...Betty right?” A young man in front of her asked, taking her attention off of her mother’s rambling. She immediately glanced up to him and then back down to her phone that she now was holding in her lap. There was...definitely something about him that Betty couldn’t quite pinpoint, but was certainly going to look further into as the year progressed.





	A Damsel in Distress

“Well...how’d the report go Elizabeth?” Alice Cooper pried her daughter, knowing that the grades had just been released.

She swallowed hard, looking around the campus courtyard. It had been so peaceful before her mother called her. The sun was shining just enough to peak from under the shaded tree, bringing warm waves to warm her shoulders. There was a beige stone bench where Betty tossed her satchel down and completed various assignments almost everyday. The only sounds were muffled conversations and baby ducks quacking over by the small pond.

 This was her safe spot. 

“Elizabeth?” Her mother raised her voice, as always.

“I - uhm…” She stammered while her eyes screwed shut with embarrassment, “Got a...seventy four.”

Betty’s breathing hitched as she listened to her mother’s sigh. “You know Elizabeth, I’ve been going easy on you, but now I see that your grades only suffer from going easy. I understand that it’s only the second assignment of your literature class...and that you’re a freshman in college, but these grades...they’re only leading you to disappointment.”

“I - I know, I’m trying mom...it’s just really different and I have to adjust -”

“Well we’ve given you time to adjust and I see no adjustments made. This is college and after this your career only begins. You don’t have enough time to fool around. I’m not sure if there’s a secret boyfriend, or friend that’s a bad influence, or some influence of drugs, but it needs to s -”

“ - Hey...Betty right?” A young man in front of her asked, taking her attention off of her mother’s rambling. She immediately glanced up to him and then back down to her phone that she now was holding in her lap. Without hesitation, her thumb quickly pressed the end button. She flipped her phone over and placed it on the bench. 

Giving a faint smile, she nodded. Suddenly she felt a sting on her cheeks and realized a tear was streaming down her face so she wiped it away, looking to the floor in attempt to avoid more eye contact.

“Are you feeling okay?” He immediately questioned, brows furrowing. 

“Uhm yeah. Fine,” She answered as she moved her satchel so he could sit down. But her voice had faltered. This was certainly different, he sat with one leg wrapped around his arm and one dangling from the bench...to give her his complete undivided attention.

“What’s wrong?” He asked as he turned his head slightly in order to better see her face.

 “Really it’s nothing,” She sniffled, looking up to him a little bit more than she had been.

 “Saying that isn’t helping your cause you know,” He lightly chuckled. As she watched his pink lips tug into a smile, she got this pang in her chest. It felt...pleasant.

 “My mom’s just being annoying - ”

 “ - Ugh talk about mothers. Mine left me with my sister when I was ten. Personally I think that they’re overrated.” He had interrupted her...but for some reason she didn’t mind the sound of his voice over hers, it was nice.

 “I - I’m sorry to hear about that,” She empathized and she looked up to him. To his black, curly waves that were so effortlessly propped up on top of his head. To his ocean blue eyes that just had this energetic sparkle igniting in them. To his crooked smile that he would occasionally let out. To his sharp jawline that had caught her attention in class on the first day of school when she had glanced to the back of class, looking for the clock. There was...definitely something about him that Betty couldn’t quite pinpoint, but was certainly going to look further into as the year progressed.

There were a couple times in class where they had just been friendly when they had supposedly accidentally stared at each other at the same time to which they just gave a quick smile before going back to their work, but that was it. Why was he being so outgoing? Betty really wasn’t sure, she was never used to boys like Jughead to randomly just take such a  genuine interest in her. Back in Riverdale Betty was used to being shamed for her weight, grades, and appearance every second of the day she was awake. Alice had always been breathing down her neck which built Betty into a very kind person, trying to be nothing like her mother.

But with things like this...it was new, she wasn’t used to this. She didn’t know how she felt about it. The only thing she did know was that her heart fluttered a little bit every time he smiled because of her. That’s it.

He tugged his teeth between his lower lip, intrigued with the concentration she had on his face. He wondered what was so interesting about him of all people. Why did she take the time in her day to study him? He didn’t know the answer...but he wasn’t gonna lie that he was really hoping there wasn’t a shade of pale pink creeping across his cheeks right now. “Really, it’s okay. I’m over it, but...I can relate to having a shitty mom.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes before chuckling, “I just didn’t do well on the report and I don’t know why I let my mom get to me about it.” After taking a pause, she continued, “I just -  I feel like maybe...I’m losing myself within the midst of this.” Shaking her head she said, “I feel like NYU shouldn’t have accepted me if I can’t - I can’t...do a simple task and get a good grade.”

He ran his rough hands through his soft hair, then started to twirl a stray piece of hair that had fallen in front of his face. He had noticed her attention was primarily focused on a couple of laminated sheets, clipped together peeking from her satchel.

Grabbing them, he quirked a brow. “You got a seventy four and it’s the second assignment of the year, you’re still learning. Why does this bother you so much?”

“Because a 2.0 isn’t a 4.0 and I’m not asking for perfect grades...but I can’t keep missing the ball because it’s my job to catch the ball.” Her voice cracked. “My mom already told me I’m not going to be successful and now all I can wonder is...what if she was right?”

 He shifted in their chair, just a couple centimeters closer to her, but it still seemed to give her some peace. “It sounds like your mom doesn’t know shit and she has way too high expectations.”

“Well then,” She argued, “What did you get on your report?”

“Betty…” And although she was about to argue, she took a moment to reply. She liked the way her name rolled off his tongue so smoothly.

“Jughead what did you get?”

“An eighty seven, but he’s a hard grader,” He tried to explain.

“I know Jug, I’m the one with a C here.” Jug, she had said. He kinda liked it.

“Fine, you want me to be honest? He’s a hard grader...Hopson always has been, but do you wanna know why?” She ever so slightly moved her head closer to his and quirked an eyebrow back, urging him to tell her.

He looked down to her paper and skimmed through for three minutes. “Easy, you could be getting A’s right now.”

Her eyes widened, “What? What is it?”

“I don’t see you in there. This isn’t you, this is fact after fact after fact. I need to read the first paragraph and be able to distinguish that this is your work. Writing 101, this shouldn’t be hard to change.”

She scoffed and pulled the papers from his hand.

“Hey, I’m being honest.” He fought. She looked up to him, lips pursed with a challenging look in her eyes. But he couldn’t help and notice how when her lips were slightly agape, her pearly white teeth shined through...and when she was fighting back a smile, the way her dimples became prominent, it wasn’t something he’d forget to say the least. “You told me to be honest,” He argued.

Skimming through her own work, she glanced back up to him with an indescribable look on her face. One he couldn’t so easily decipher, but it looked promising. “Fine, you win.”

“Jones 1, Cooper 0. Looks like I am in fact, winning.” And there she was, biting down another smile from him, attempting to hide her beautiful smile. 

“Do you maybe...wanna go to the Starbucks across from 13th for a little bit?” Betty bashfully asked, cheeks becoming flushed. She didn’t know what she felt right now, but she knew she liked it.

“Oh...I don’t know, on a Friday?” He started, but soon his smirk became evident. “Hey!” She chuckled, wide-eyed as she gently shoved his shoulder.

“I think I should be free.” Cocking her head to the side, she gave a small smile.

She almost inaudibly gasped as she grabbed her phone from beside her.

“What?”

“I need to text Kevin,” She said already starting to type away. With an amused look, he watched her slender fingers type away at the keyboard, not even able to recall what she had been typing.

_Hey Kev. Just wanted to let you know I’m gonna hang with Jughead for a bit at Starbucks._

Within a couple seconds, he speedily replied, _Totally jealous...and totally proud. Have fun :)_

Releasing her lip from her teeth, she said, “Okay, ready.” She slid her papers and laptop back into her satchel and slung it around her waist. He followed behind her when she stood up.

At the exit of the courtyard, he slid his hand next to hers and she intertwined their fingers. They both had no idea what they were doing, but they were both excited to see where this would be going.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear your guys' feedback and requests!


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